History Of Ballet

Question 1

Pre and Early Ballet

Answer 1

-Court dances of Western European Countries 14th century - mid 16th century laid groundwork for ballet
-Elaborate spectacles
-Arranged according to socio-political status.

Question 2

Brought ballet from Italy to France mid 1500s

“La Ballet Comique de la Reine” 1581 - based on Circe from Homer’s Odyssey.

Answer 2

Catherine de Medici

Question 3

Louis XIV - 17th century

Answer 3

-Known as the Sun King
-Key in ballet’s development & it’s change from court to the professional form.
-Great dancer who gave himself the role of Apollo to emphasize his divine right to rule
-Royal Academy of Dance 1661 established.

Question 4

Essence of ballet

Answer 4

Turn out and the sense of lightness/defying gravity

Question 5

Early Ballet Characteristics

Answer 5

-Men only danced
-Themes we’re often heroic and/or allegorical
-Ideals of ease, elegance, & freedom from gravity
-Frontal orientation of the body
-Turn out was developing
-Females we’re performing in male roles, came in at the end of the 1600s early 1700s

Question 6

Romantic Period (1830s-50s)

Answer 6

-After the Napoleonic Wars, new social/political eras, Industrial Revolution
-Middle Class had more money and exposure to ballet

Question 7

What are the characteristics of the Romantic Period?

Answer 7

-Romantic tutus
-Pointe shoes created and called”flying machines” by Charles Didelot
-Spine is erect
-Focus on defying gravity
-Ballerina as central figure in Ballets
-Mystical and magical themes, escapism for audience
-White ballets - costumed in romantic white tutus in one act

Question 8

La Sylphide, Pas De Quatre, Coppelia

Answer 8

Romantic Ballets

Question 9

Classical Ballet

Answer 9

-Came from Russia, late 19th century

Question 10

Who was Catherine the Great and Marius Petipa?

Answer 10

Catherine the Great took ballet to Russia & helped it grow.
Marius Petipa is the father of classical ballet, choreographed first Sleeping Beauty Ballet in 1829.

Question 11

What are the characteristics of Classical Ballet?

Answer 11

-Focus on symmetry, line, harmony
-Always includes a ‘pas de deux’: entrée, adagio, variations, coda
-Pointe shoes still used
-May have pantomime & literal gesture
-Spine is erect
-May have narrative, pantomime & Literal gesture
-Classical tutu develops

Question 12

1909-1929 Transitional time for Ballet in 20th Century

Answer 12

Ballet Russes

Question 13

Things about Ballet Russes

Answer 13

-Diaghilev (AD) created Ballet Russes- “off season” for top dancer in world
-Based in Paris and then Monte Carlo in 1923
-Top painter/artists for sets/costumes & top musicians
-Michel Fokine choreographer- valued Ballet and all other arts components of performance equally (sets, music, design, costumes)

Question 14

Things about Ballet Russes (pt. 2)

Answer 14

-“Le Sacre du Printemps” Nijinsky, May 1990 - Caused riot in Paris
-We begin to see changes in relationship to gravity (heaviness and lightness), frontal orientation of the body no longer required, floor work, angular gestures, new relationship to music, and new themes in Nijinsky’s work

Question 15

Neoclassical Ballet

Answer 15

-20th Century
-Balanchine is the father of neoclassical ballet
-Balanchine and Lincoln Kirsten created School of American Ballet & New York City Ballet
-Ballet style developed
-Ballet Body type- tall and thin
-Excluded African Americans at NYC Ballet
-World-wide influence-dancers spread his style and technique

Question 16

The first African American to join the company and they founded the Dance Theater of Harlem in 1969 at the height of the Civil Rights movement,

Answer 16

Arthur Mitchell

Question 17

What are the characteristics of Neoclassical Ballet?

Answer 17

-Focus is on the movement, not necessarily on a storyline
-Not focused on symmetry, “unbalanced” stage is common
-May or may not have a pas de deux
-Never uses literal gesture
-Pointe shoes are optional
-Spine is not always erect

Question 18

Contemporary Ballet

Answer 18

• 20-21st Century; many choreographers pushing the envelope of what Ballet can be
  -Many neoclassical attributed still exist
  -Spine curves and doesn’t remain erect
  -Gravity is still important but we see drops in weight where dancers may appear to embody heaviness, drop their weight, go to the ground.
  -Less rigid in place with more freedom for creative potential
  -Gender roles are shifting for partnering and frontal orientation of the body no longer required
  -Changing the landscape of ballet from Balanchine’s ideal ballerina to be more open and accepting of body types and inclusion of racial diversity in Ballet
  -Noted Choreographers and excerpts of choreography viewed: Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, William Forsythe, Alonzo King

Question 19

All male ensemble, performing all roles and en pointe

Answer 19

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo: